h may have a great thing going with an education program called Star Academy, and I apologize for suggesting otherwise.
The story here isn’t the apology but the program, so let’s dispense quickly with the former. In an earlier in support of LA GATOR scholarships, while I was criticizing state Senate President Cameron Henry’s opposition to the scholarships, I rather puckishly suggested his own logic could be used to move money to LA GATOR from Star Academies across h.
I noted that Star “might be the greatest thing since the first time someone put mint and chocolate together,” but that had strongly questioned its efficacy. I should have done further research.
Star Academies, run by the Crescent City’s NOLA Education LLC, are used all across the nation, including 62 programs in 49 h schools. Their mission: Help struggling middle-school students catch up academically rather than drop out. Star uses numerous hands-on “modules” — terrariums, anatomical models, science equipment and much, much more — to make coursework far more interesting to pupils.
Designed as “schools within schools,” the Star package includes concentrated teacher training, at least monthly visits and other support from Star specialists, and individualized attention for the students. The program’s three main, measurable goals are to increase school attendance, reduce disciplinary problems and improve educational performance.
The Wall Street Journal said Star’s programs “haven’t undergone evidence-based scrutiny” and cited several disputes about the positive statistics reported by Star itself.
Apparently, h disputes nothing. T.H. Harris school in Jefferson Parish, for example, reported that its Star students improved in the h Educational Assessment Program by 15.9 points in language arts, 14.1 in math, 13 points in science and, in the composite average score, by a total of 106.7% just from the 2022-23 school year through the 2024-25 year.
At Ferriday Junior High in Concordia Parish, attendance rose slightly, language scores improved significantly and correct answers in a math program rose astonishingly from 51% to 96%.
Cade Brumley, the h Superintendent of Education, said all statistics provided by Star within h are accurate, as compiled from official state data. He also faulted The Wall Street Journal for “not an appropriate use of data” because “it was suggesting that Star was responsible for the entire population of those schools,” rather than just the Star students themselves.
In h, Brumley said that while some schools implement Star better than others, still, overall, “If you look at the actual students STAR is serving, they are seeing attendance gains, behavioral improvements and academic improvements.”
Brumley’s assessment merits respect. His stewardship coincides with h schools earning national accolades, with ranking the Bayou State first among all states in reading growth and second in math improvement from 2022 to 2025. He said an important part of the improvement comes from remedial attention to failing schools and students.
“We’ve flexed a lot of muscle in providing support for Recovery School Districts,” he said. “We have used Star as that support on multiple occasions.” And: “Where we have heard from educators, they have been very positive and they want to replicate” Star elsewhere in their school systems.
Star provides data indicating major successes in other school districts across the country, as attested to by school system officials in those locales. Camden City schools in New Jersey report huge improvements in math. Schools in Nevada “exceeded benchmarks by an average of 93%.” And at the “nontraditional” Explore Academy in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, discipline improved and math scores skyrocketed.
“We saw that we had marked gains in student attendance,” said Cathi Swan, the school’s director, in a May 22 phone interview. “Students that didn’t usually like to come to school for any reason, now really didn’t want to miss school in this (new) environment” created by Star.
Impressed by the results, Arkansas has added 13 more Star sites.
Earnest Brown, a circuit judge in Pine Bluff who handles juvenile cases, told me he loves Star’s effects. Noting that the Explore Academy brings in children who have truancy problems or otherwise “were at risk of falling into trouble,” Brown said, “I am big on prevention and intervention. (Star) is an excellent tool to prevent kids from coming to the juvenile court system.”
In Mobile, Alabama, The Pathway school’s 2011 announcement of its adoption of Star drew positive from the daily Press-Register. Fifteen years later, Pathway still uses it, and retiring principal Alvin Dailey, said, “I’ve seen through the years that the students in my program can do two grade levels of work in one school year.”
Maybe Star doesn’t work everywhere. But the success stories are numerous, and the anecdotal enthusiasm from school officials is palpable. No wonder h uses it in 62 places.
Maybe it’s even better than chocolate mint.